How to Inspect Your Sailboat's Standing Rigging

Do it with the boat still and dry, ideally at haul-out. The best inspection is with the mast unstepped and laid on sawhorses, where you can see everything. With the mast up, check everything you can reach from deck and either go aloft safely or hire a rigger for the masthead, spreaders and upper fittings.

Start at one chainplate and work your way around the boat, writing down each item so you do not skip anything.

Polish the swage fittings, turnbuckles and toggles with metal polish. Dirt and staining hide cracks. Then look at each one with the magnifier in good light. A light rust film can appear even on good stainless and wipes off; a rigging specialist from a Seldén dealer warns that rust which won't come off with polish very likely marks a crack or deeper corrosion, so look at that spot extra carefully and have a rigger check it.

Swaged fittings (smooth tubes pressed onto the wire) are the most common failure point. Look for:

• Hairline cracks, especially along the length of the tube (serious) or around it (even worse, a sign of fatigue)
• Rust weeping from where the wire enters the fitting
• A bent, bulged or banana-shaped fitting
• Proud strands: wires bulging out where they enter the fitting, a common sign of broken strands hidden inside

Give the lower terminals extra attention. Practical Sailor points out that salt water runs down the wire and into the bottom fittings, so they tend to corrode first.

Any crack means replace that stay. Many riggers would replace the whole set if one fitting has cracked from age.

Run tissue paper, a cotton ball or a piece of nylon stocking along each wire in both directions, especially near the fittings. It will snag on broken strands ("fishhooks"). Do not use bare hands; broken strands cut (a sturdy glove works too). A broken inner strand can also show up as a small bump you can feel on the wire, often a hand's width or two from the terminal. Also look for kinks, sharp bends, flattened spots, pitting, and wire that has gone dull and rusty. Broken strands or kinks mean replace the stay.

If your rig has mechanical (compression-type) terminals instead of swages, check the body for cracks and look at where the wire enters for any sign that the wire has slipped or the strands have spread. If in doubt, a rigger can open and inspect them.

Each turnbuckle should turn smoothly, be lubricated, and be locked with cotter pins or locking nuts. Look for cracks in the body and bent threaded studs. There should be enough thread engaged on both ends; BoatUS suggests at least half to two-thirds of the available thread. A stud barely threaded in is a failure waiting to happen. After a haul-out or mast stepping, make sure every turnbuckle that was loosened has been retightened and pinned; BoatUS has paid rig-failure claims where that step was missed.

Toggles let fittings move without bending. Make sure every fork lines up with its chainplate or tang without binding or being forced sideways. Look for cracks and elongated (oval) pin holes, which show wear.

Clevis pins should fit snugly. Cotter pins should be the right size, not much longer than needed, and spread at a modest angle rather than curled around (BoatUS suggests legs spread around 25 to 30 degrees). Tape hides problems: remove old tape, inspect, and re-tape only where needed to protect sails and lines.

Chainplates connect the rig to the hull and often fail where you cannot see, at or below the deck. Look at them above deck and below deck (you may need to remove trim):

• Bends, cracks, corrosion and rust stains, especially at the pin holes and where they pass through the deck
• Cracked or hard caulking around the deck opening (leaks rot the structure)
• Water stains, soft spots, delamination or rot in the deck, bulkhead or knee they bolt to

Never paint chainplates; paint hides corrosion. A chainplate can look perfect above and below deck and still be weak where it passes through the deck: Practical Sailor explains that stainless sitting in stagnant water inside a wet deck or core suffers crevice corrosion, which you can only see by pulling the chainplate. BoatUS recommends pulling and inspecting chainplates about every 10 years regardless of appearance, and sooner if you suspect leaks or wet core.

If you have a roller furler, the forestay wire is hidden inside it. Check the lower fitting and the furler drum, and look at the top swivel when aloft. BoatUS recommends servicing furlers per the maker and, if the headstay is over 10 years old, replacing it when the furler is taken apart.

Sight up the mast from the deck: it should be straight side to side and centered. Spreaders should sit at equal angles on both sides and their tips should be secure to the shrouds. Look for white powder or bubbling paint on aluminum, which means corrosion, especially where stainless fittings touch the aluminum, at the gooseneck, spreader roots and any welds. Check for loose or missing fasteners; lost bolts are a frequent cause of dismastings. At the foot of the mast, make sure the drain holes aren't blocked, since trapped water corrodes the mast base.

For a keel-stepped mast, look at the step and the floors around it below deck for corrosion, cracking or crushed supports. For a deck-stepped mast, check the deck around the step for cracks, crazing or soft spots, and look at the compression post or support bulkhead below.

A rig that is too loose lets the mast pump and fittings fatigue; one that is far too tight overloads the boat. A shroud that has gone floppy when it used to be tight is a warning, not just a tuning job: it can mean anything from stretched rigging to a sinking or failed mast step, so find out why. If the leeward shrouds go very slack when sailing, or you are unsure, have a rigger tune it. Many riggers tune during the annual inspection.

Check halyard sheaves at the masthead turn freely, shackles are secured (moused), and wire halyards have no fishhooks. Running rigging has its own care, but problems here are easiest to spot during a rig inspection.

Write down the date, what you inspected and anything you found, with photos, in BoatMend. Then decide:

• Everything sound and rigging under 10 years old: sail on, inspect again next year.
• Rigging around or over 10 years old: book a professional rig inspection now and plan replacement; check what your insurer requires.
• Any crack, broken strand, badly corroded chainplate or damaged mast step: do not sail until a rigger has fixed it.